James's Intervention
by Orbiting-Star
Summary: Alec is on the brink of death after an encounter with the Familiars. Meanwhile Max has a very strange dream...


AN: I was inspired, finally, to write a M/A story, by Valjean's fanfiction on Max and Alec. The background is this: The siege has finished, but transgenics are still locked up in TC. Logan left for good, and Alec is in love with Max but won't admit it to her. The rest you'll gather from the story (I hope!) Please review, this is my first DA fiction, so I'd love some feedback on how I've interpreted the characters. Thanks!

James's Intervention

Alec. Clever, arrogant, self-centred, genetically empowered Alec. Alec who was proud of his skills, his strength, his beautiful enhanced body. Alec who always pretended to be all right, even when he obviously wasn't. Alec who definitely wasn't all right now.

Max stared through the window of the room he lay in, his body stretched out in a bed, covered in a white sheet. Such a contrast to all the red blood earlier. Max didn't think she'd ever seen anyone bleed so much. And she had a horrible feeling that neither Alec's genetically enhanced healing skills nor his attitude would get him out of this mess.

She remembered when she'd found out he was in trouble. He'd gone to meet a medical supplier who said he could get them the drugs they so desperately needed. The siege at Terminal City had ended a few weeks ago with a temporary truce so talks could begin, but the residents still had no rights to medical treatment, so they had to make do with what they could acquire themselves. She and Alec had been working non-stop to try and provide for everyone's needs. One of their main problems was the vigilante justice that still made it dangerous for any of the X5s to be outside, not to mention White and his Familiars on the prowl. Still, Alec had insisted that he could manage on his own, and, despite the niggling feeling in her stomach, Max had let him go, knowing he could usually take care of himself. How wrong she'd been.

Rousing herself, Max walked into the room that had been kitted out as a hospital ward, to take care of the casualties they'd been sustaining. Alec was lying there, covered in tubes, a machine the only thing keeping him alive after six hours in surgery. It was ironic, Max thought, that it was Lydecker and his ability to provide them with the modern equipment they so desperately needed that was sustaining Alec's life. It was even more ironic that she would never have gone along with the idea if Alec hadn't persuaded her.

"Max, we need the medical equipment badly. You know how many injuries there've been, and you know we can't take anyone to the hospitals. They'd lynch us or send for White."

"I don't trust Lydecker, he'll screw us over. Besides, we're doing alright at the moment."

"At the moment, yeah. But we're walking a fine line between survival and disaster here, Max. And you know as well as I do that things could go downhill very very quickly."

She'd given in eventually. Now she sent a silent prayer of thanks to Lydecker for providing them with the means to keep Alec alive. As she slumped down in the chair next to his bed, she studied his face. He was so pale, despite the large blood transfusion she'd given him. She would have given him more if she could, but Gem, the X5 working as a nurse now, absolutely forbade it, saying that more blood wouldn't help him anyway. Max was tired, tired from the blood loss and the worry, standing by the door of the room where they were desperately trying to save Alec's life for six hours, watching them patch up the four bullet holes that marred his smooth chest. She took his hand in hers, then laid her head down and closed her eyes, willing Alec to just hang on.

* * *

She could still remember the feeling that hit her when she saw Dix running across the control centre as fast as his little legs would carry him, his face betraying the bad news that she'd subconsciously been expecting all day. She said it for him.

"It's Alec. What's happened?

Dix said the word she dreaded hearing. "Familiars, Max. He just called. All he could say was, 'Familiars…' Then the phone went dead."

"Damn it!" Max had no idea where Alec could be, and with the phone dead there was no way of tracing him. It could be hours before they found him, and that would almost certainly be too late.

Joshua pushed his way through the crowd. "Max," he said. "I find medium fella. I find Alec." He placed a finger to his nose.

And Joshua was right. Better than any police sniffer dog, his sensitive nose had followed Alec's trail, leading him and Max to Alec in a remarkably short time.

The situation hadn't looked good when they arrived. Two of White's cronies were on the ground, out cold or dead, but three others still surrounded Alec, who was still on his feet and fighting with everything he had left. Unfortunately, that wasn't much. His left arm was useless, oozing blood from a bullet hole much like the wound he'd sustained during the Jam Pony fight. And Max was sure from the way he was moving, every blow seeming to weaken him further, that all the blood on his T-shirt didn't come from that arm wound.

She and Joshua had launched into the melee with a ferocity that both exhilarated and frightened Max. Joshua took the first Familiar out, throwing him against a wall and simply snapping his neck. Max headed for Alec, launching kicks and punches at the Familiars, who were surprised and momentarily off their game. The advantage was enough for Max to take out one Familiar, and Alec managed to deal with the last one, throwing him on the floor and delivering a karate chop to his neck that meant he certainly wouldn't be waking up any time soon. Max turned to check on Joshua, and surveyed the carnage they'd created in the alley. She sighed. Detective Clemente would certainly have something to say about this.

"Max! Watch out!"

The voice was Joshua's. Max spun on her heel, only to see a sixth Familiar rising up from behind a dustbin, pointing a gun straight to her chest. He'd been hiding there the whole time, cruelly watching his companions get slaughtered, and intending now to take revenge on 452 and 494. Max didn't even have time to think. As she heard two shots go off, she felt herself being thrown to the floor with a force that told her Alec had charged at speeds incredible even for a transgenic. By the time she'd rolled out from under him, Joshua had already taken care of the gunman, crushing his ribcage in a fatal bear-hug. Brushing herself down and breathing heavily from the impact, it wasn't until she heard a quiet voice that she looked at Alec.

"Max…"

"Oh my God." Max knelt and surveyed the damage on her X5 companion and fellow leader. The last two bullets from the Familiar's gun had penetrated Alec's chest and side, the shots meant for her hitting him instead. Horrified, she lifted his T-shirt, only to find another two bullet wounds from the earlier fight. There was blood; blood everywhere, a pool of red on the ground, soaking through her clothes as well as Alec's. She grabbed his hand and held on tight.

"Hang on, Alec. Don't you dare die on me, otherwise I'll have to kick your ass."

But Alec didn't hear the love and worry that permeated the threat. He was already out cold.

* * *

Max was roused by the sound of the door opening. Turning wearily, she saw Gem come into the room. The other X5 walked over to Alec, checking the monitors on the life-support system and looking anxiously at his face for any sign of change. Then she raised her eyes and met the mute question in Max's eyes.

"I don't know, Max. I just don't know. I've never seen anyone pull through from this kind of injury, even an X5. It's gonna take a miracle. But Alec … maybe he's capable of miracles." With that, she rested her hand on Max's shoulder for a moment, then turned and quietly left the room.

Max turned back to Alec, scanning his pale face for any sign of life. She wished she could bring him back, that he would open his eyes, smile that cocky smile that wound her up so much, and make some innuendo-filled comment. Lying there like that, knowing that it was partly her fault he was at death's door, she couldn't help thinking of Ben, how he had lain there so still after she'd snapped his neck, his face pale just like Alec's. With a tear rolling down her cheek, she laid her head on Alec's chest, carefully avoiding the bandaged wounds.

"Please, Alec. Don't die. I can't lose you the way I lost Ben. I can't watch you die again. I need you. We all need you."

Only now did it dawn on Max exactly how much she relied on Alec. Ever since the siege had begun, he'd been there, helping, organising, and keeping up the morale among the transgenics. Even when she'd felt lost and overwhelmed, he'd still kept going, refusing to back down. Who would have guessed that his stubbornness would come in so handy? She'd come to rely on him to make decisions, and together they had managed to broker a peace deal with the army that at least gave them a chance. One of the last arguments she'd had with Alec was over who was going to be their main representative at the talks. Alec thought she should go, but Max knew better.

"It has to be you, Alec. None of the rest of us has the experience or the charm to convince them we're worth listening to. Much as I hate to admit it, you can make people do anything you want."

"Manticore taught me how to be an assassin, not a politician, Max."

"But they taught you how to convince people. How to lie, and how to make people believe you. You've got the experience, and you can do it."

"Max, you're the hero around here. You're the real leader of Terminal City. You should be the one representing us."

But they both knew that wasn't true. Alec was just as much a leader of Terminal City as she was. The argument ended as most of theirs did; Max slapped him on the head a few times, and eventually he gave in, as she knew he would. And Max also knew that he would do a good job.

* * *

Max pulled herself up, stretched with the feline grace that was so natural to her, and looked around the bare white walls of the room. 'Must have fallen asleep' she thought, then turned to check on Alec.

Alec was gone.

"Alec?" Max panicked. What had happened? Where had they taken him? Had he…? But how could they have not woken her? She ran to the door, determined to find Gem, or someone who could give her answers.

The door was locked. Max attacked it, ramming her shoulder against the lock with enough force to break down a concrete wall.

The door wouldn't budge.

Momentarily defeated, she turned back to the bed, only to see a sight which stunned her. There was, well, her, slumped over the bed resting on an arm, and apparently sound asleep. 'Ok, now I'm weirded out,' was Max's reaction. Then she clicked.

'I must be dreaming. That's why I can't open the door. I wonder why Alec's not there though.'

As she thought it, strains of music drifted into the room. It wasn't something that Max recognised, but she guessed it to be pre-Pulse. After the Pulse, no one wrote such beautiful, heart-wrenching songs anymore.

"I entered the room

Sat by your bed all through the night

I watched your daily fight

I hardly knew

The pain was almost more than I could bear

But still I hear

Your last words to me

Heaven is a place nearby

So I won't be so far away

And if you try and look for me

Maybe you'll find me someday

Heaven is a place nearby

So there's no need to say goodbye

I wanna ask you not to cry

I'll always be by your side."

Was that where Alec was? Had he died and gone to heaven? Had she lost him without showing him that he mattered to her? The thought was horrible.

"I haven't gone to heaven, Max."

The voice made her jump out of her skin. Max turned to find the owner of that oh-so-recognisable voice standing behind her, looking to be in perfect health and just as cocky as ever.

"Alec. Hang on. This is a dream. What are you doing in my dream?"

"Oh come on Maxie, don't tell me you've never dreamt about me before. God only knows what fantasies you have about me now that Logan's gone."

"Shut up, pretty boy, you know you're the last man on earth I'd ever dream about," Max lied. "Anyway, that's not the point. If you're not dead, then why aren't you in that bed?"

"Dunno, it's your dream."

Max sighed, exasperated, not knowing what to make of this 'dream' she was having. "Well, I've had enough of this crap. I may as well make the most of my sleep while you decide whether you're alive or dead." She walked back towards her unconscious 'body'.

"Erm…I think that's kind of the point, actually. Look at this."

Max walked over to where Alec was standing, looking at a sign on the wall. It was a hand-written notice.

"Dear Max and Alec,

I've given you a bit of extra time to decide what to do. Alec is going to die unless he is given a good enough reason to stay. More importantly, it has to be a good enough reason to satisfy me, otherwise I can't give him his life back. Max has to make a choice. But I'm not telling you what it is. You have to figure it out yourself. Don't spend too long; I've pulled the world out of balance a bit for this, but I can't leave it like this for long. And don't touch your body, Max, otherwise you'll wake up and Alec will die.

Hurry."

The letter, if that's what it was, wasn't signed. Max looked at Alec in disgust. "Is someone playing tricks on us?"

"I don't see how, seeing as this is technically your subconscious."

"I don't get it. How come I get to decide whether you live or die? It doesn't seem fair. And how do I know what to do?"

"Maybe this will help." Alec had scanned the room for any clues, and came back holding a book, a large book with lots of pictures in.

"How is this supposed to help?" Max asked him, but then she looked more closely at the pictures, and gasped.

The book showed her and Alec, in the room they were in now, talking. In the next picture, Alec had disappeared, and Max was left standing on her own, followed by a picture of Alec back again. But this picture had a close-up of Alec's barcode, and it wasn't Alec's.

"Ben?" The picture was showing her X5-493, Alec's twin. The next few pictures showed Alec waking up, being surrounded by all their friends, and receiving a big hug off Max. But all the while the bar code in each picture read 493. Max was stunned. This was the choice she had to make? She could have Ben back, alive and well, if she let Alec die? It was impossible. But the Alec standing beside her had figured it out too.

"So my little bro gets my body and I get to move on, is that it? Who's to say he won't start killing again?"

Max simply pointed a few pages further on, showing Ben normal, helping Max and her brethren and being totally none psychopathic.

"What's the other option?" she asked, to no one in particular.

"Well, I guess I get to keep on living."

"I don't get it. I don't get it!" Max ignored him, and shouted to the invisible spirit that was keeping them captive. That's how it felt anyway.

There was silence. Then the TV in the corner of the room started up, showing only snow. Then there was a voice.

"Honestly, Max, do I have to explain everything to you? I'm giving you a choice here, a choice to sort out your feelings."

"Hey," Alec complained, "how come it's all about her? I'm the one that got shot!"

"Never mind that. Max, this is the choice. You can either get rid of all the guilt you feel about Ben and have him back, safe and alive and normal again. Or you can sort out your feelings about Alec and have him back. It's that simple. And don't tell me I have to tell you your own feelings too; you know what they are, you just can't admit it."

"Alright. But who are you? And why give us this choice?"

The disembodied voice chuckled. "'Fraid I can't answer that, my dear. You can call me James. But you're getting the choice because I think you should. Now get on with it before it's too late."

* * *

"Max, for Christ's sake, will you stop pacing? You're driving me nuts." Alec complained.

"It helps me think. So shut up and let me get on with it."

Alec knew Max well enough to recognise the tone of extreme tension and worry in her voice. He felt sorry for her, for putting her in this situation, however weird. After all, it was his fault he'd gotten shot.

"It's not your fault, you know." Max seemed suddenly to have acquired a knack for reading his mind. Not a good thing, considering what occupied Alec's mind most of the time.

"If I wasn't on the brink of death, none of this would be happening. I shoulda just died out there on the street." Alec got up from the chair he'd been sitting in and walked away from Max, unable to bear her scrutiny. He knew what her decision should be, and in all probability would be. For all intents and purposes he was expendable. There was nothing he did that Max or even Ben couldn't do just as well. He had to face it. Alec turned to Max.

"Max, it's ok. I understand that you need to have Ben back. Tell him about me though, won't you? I don't want to be totally forgotten." With that, he walked towards the bed, intent on waking Max's body up somehow to make the choice for her.

"No!" Max was on him like a flash, wrestling down his arm poised to touch her shoulder, and throwing him to the other side of the room. She could see the look on his face, a look she recognised all too well. It was the same look of being lost and confused that had been on his face last time he'd been near death, when White's little brain bomb had been about to go off. She hadn't been able to kill him then, not even for Logan, and she knew she couldn't do it now either.

"Alec, I'm not going to let you die."

"Why?"

Max sighed. That was typical Alec. He'd never be able to just accept her decision, he had to know why.

"Why save me, Max? You think I'm a useless jerk, who's usually more trouble than he's worth. You could have Ben back. Why save me?"

"It's not that simple, Alec. Ben's dead, and has been for a long time. I'm not sure he'd be able to fit into the lives we lead. Besides, you're not useless. You've done wonders for Terminal City. And who's going to represent us at the peace talks if you're dead? Me? I don't think so. Freak Nation needs you, Alec, and . . . "

"And what, Max?" Alec had come uncomfortably close to her now, his face so close to hers she could see the little gold specks in his green eyes.

"Freak Nation needs you, and . . . and I need you." Max took a deep breath. There was no going back now. All her pacing had lead to the one inevitable conclusion that she'd always known but never acknowledged. Now it was time to come clean.

"With everything that's been happening, first the siege, then Logan leaving, you're the only thing that's stayed the same. You've always been there, and I need that. I . . . " Max faltered over the words she couldn't yet pronounce. "I need you more than you realise."

Alec pondered this for a minute, then decided to make a confession of his own. "You do realise that the only reason I stuck around in Seattle in the first place was you, Max?"

She nodded. "I'm glad you stuck around, Alec, even though I never show it. I'm glad you were there, and I need you there for me now. Ben's probably happier wherever he is now. But you belong on earth, not in heaven." With a gentleness Alec had never seen from Max, she intertwined her fingers with his, and said, with a smile that took Alec's breath away, "You belong with me."

And then her lips were on his, and Alec was spiralling through stars and galaxies and falling into darkness.

* * *

Max was woken up abruptly by the sounding of an insistent beeping and a door being slammed open. She lifted her head and looked around to see Gem and two other X-series nurses storming into the room. Suddenly, she realised what the beeping sound was. It was the alarm on the heart monitor.

'Oh God,' was Max's first thought, 'what went wrong?'

Gem was bent low over Alec, listening to his heart beating. Then she straightened and looked at Max, disbelief painting her features.

"Max, you know what I said about miracles? Well, it looks like Alec is one. He's gonna make it. He's recovering faster than even X-5s can."

Max leaned back in her chair. Miracles, huh? If she ever met that James guy again, she'd be having words with him. She looked at Alec, only to be met with green eyes flecked with gold.

"Hey Max," Alec said, then stopped, not knowing what to say, and for once having no witticism at his disposal.

"Hey yourself." The smile on her face was genuine, as she bent over Alec and kissed his forehead, then revelled in the look of surprise on his face.

"How d'yu feel?"

"Like I got shot – a lot. Urgh." Alec looked down at his chest swathed in bandages. "But I think I'll live. I just had the weirdest dream, though . . . wanna know what happened?"

"I think I already know, pretty boy."

Alec chuckled. "So how come I don't get a proper kiss then?"

"Forget it, mate." Alec's face fell. Then Max leaned down towards his ear so that Gem couldn't hear her, and her words made him grin. "Not until you're up and out of that bed, anyway." With that she straightened, and walked out of the room.

Alec grinned even more, and turned to Gem, "Nurse, get me well, fast. I need to get out of here."

THE END

Ok, so this story turned out a lot weirder than I planned. I was originally just gonna have Alec wake up and Max realise how much she'd have missed him if he'd died, but I couldn't resist the idea of someone (like James Cameron maybe!) interfering in their lives. What do you think?


End file.
